The bombing in Manchester was a horrific event by any measure. There’s no justification for the senseless loss of lives. Yet given the destructiveness of the wars throughout the Middle East, can one honestly say some blowback was not inevitable? As recently revealed, the British foresaw such attacks even before the invasion of Iraq. Yet the tragedy of these violent deaths are viewed as different because a Muslim carried out this terrorist attack.

Echoing this sentiment, Bill Maher has said: “liberals should stop booing me for pointing out that Islam is not like other religions.” Maher believes Islam is the reason psychopathic murderers are willing to kill innocent civilians.

Maher’s thinking implies then that the death and destruction caused by the Christian, Western militaries, and their arms manufacturers, are somehow justifiable. So he never makes clear what the “Shock and Awe” attack that launched the Iraq war says about good Christian soldiers and their political leaders who decide when to use (or misuse) massive deadly force.

In the American mindset, one of the essential differences is that America and its allies supposedly do not target civilians. In contrast, Muslim terrorists attempt to kill as many people as possible, civilian or otherwise. Clearly, the latter is not acceptable. Yet when the U.S. conducts wars knowing tens or hundreds of thousands of civilians will die, possibly even millions, is there really a Christian moral high ground for the American military ventures?

Let’s briefly review the last 16 years of America’s track record in the Middle East then.

1. The entire world was stunned at the attack on 9/11. The U.S. blamed Bin Laden and demanded his extradition from Afghanistan. The Taliban leadership said they would comply if given proof of his responsibility. None was given and subsequently, the U.S. invades the entire country. If Bin Laden was the issue, conducting a more targeted search would have been sufficient. Shockingly, at one point, President Bush says the capture of Bin Laden was unimportant anyway.

Result: Muslim Country Destroyed

2. The U.S. launches a massive propaganda campaign about the threat of non-existent Iraqi WMD. The Neo-Conservative desire for invading Iraq since George Bush I did not do so after the war in Kuwait is well-documented. The false justification creates support for what is ultimately the war crime of waging war against another country that neither attacked nor threatened it.

Result: Muslim Country Destroyed

3. After Egyptians overthrew the dictator that the U.S. had propped up for 30 years, they held democratic elections. Since the Egyptian military and their U.S. benefactors could not accept the Muslim Brotherhood victory, a coup eventually followed. Not only did the U.S. support the new military regime, they have provided over $1.0 billion in military aid per year ever since. This American policy is directly opposed to President Obama’s famous call for democracy in the Middle East at the beginning of his Administration. It also violated American law against providing aid to any government that has taken control via a coup.

4. The U.S. and NATO justified bombing Libya by suggesting Qaddafi was going to slaughter his own people. This propaganda led to attacks that degraded the Libyan military and allowed jihadi rebels to overthrow Qaddafi. Supposedly this was not the objective, but Sec. State Clinton seemingly forgot that and reveled in his death. Yet with no plans for a successor government in place, stable Libya turned into chaos.

Result: Muslim Country Destroyed

5. The U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, provide weapons, training, advisors and bombing missions all in support of the opposition in Syria. Somehow the three Muslim nations believe they are justified in their attempt to bring down Assad for his failure to protect human rights. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are undemocratic monarchies and Saudi Arabia and Turkey brutally oppress their own citizens. Foreign fighters and/or extremists have helped create the current bloodbath of a supposed civil war fought with outsiders in the resistance.

Result: Muslim Country Destroyed

6. The U.S. sells hundreds of billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia, and provides logistics, refueling and targeting as the monarchy mercilessly bombs Yemen. An immense humanitarian crisis is occurring in the poorest country in the Middle East. The U.S. also determines targets for itself, going as far as bombing American citizens who have not been tried, let alone convicted.

Result: Muslim Country Destroyed

Yet in the simplistic, frightened mind of Americans like Bill Maher, the problem is the Muslim terrorists willing to kill everyone to get to their 72 virgins. The wake of U.S. death and destruction doesn’t matter. Supposedly, the Muslims would have come to the U.S. to kill us first anyway. And so the thinking follows, let’s take the battle over there and destroy more villages, towns, cities and countries.

The American view of foreigners has been shaped by propaganda, creating a fear of people who look different and speak unrecognizable languages. American media would have you believe the U.S. and maybe Europe are the only places that want peace and the rule of law. The rest of the world is just crazy fanatics deserving of what Brian Williams called our beautiful missile strikes.

What Americans don’t realize is that people are the same everywhere. People want to live their lives in peace. Have a good home, decent schools for their kids, time with friends and family and improve the comfort of their lives when they can. Militant Muslims are not trying to kill Americans (or Britons) because Allah is not our God. Rather it is what America does to their fellow Muslims, either through war or oppressive puppets, that drives anti-Western sentiment.

Ignorant Americans like Bill Maher believe the media’s constant demonization of Muslims and ignore everything their country does to create terrorists. Mercifully, Maher did not have a show scheduled after the terrorist bombing in Manchester took place. It wouldn’t matter though. We already know Maher would have blamed Islamic fanaticism rather than the bomber having seen the aftermath of the Western “liberation” of Libya and the destruction of Syria too. For Maher, Muslims are not allowed to feel the anguish and rage of seeing their brethren slaughtered. Only Christians and Atheists can do that.

Ian Berman is an entrepreneur and former corporate banker at leading global banks in New York City. He now focuses on renewable energy, financial advisory services and writing about representative government, equitable public policies and ending American militarism and Israel’s continuing colonization of Palestine. He is the Co-Founder of Palestine 365, the Ongoing Oppression and its predecessor, Palestine 365, on Facebook.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News
editorial policy.

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